i think what i really love about the max x robin x nancy dynamic is how they all kind of are like pieces that go together individually to each other like. u got robin who has probably never had a female friendship that was completely honest in the way that mattered like, we know steve is her first best friend because steve is the first person who Knows her and knows All Of Her but steve is also a guy and as much as he tries there are some things that he just doesn’t understand the way girls do. the same thing goes to nancy, who’s not had a real female friend since barb, and even then it was different bc barb knew her at a time where nancy was Not Fully herself (bc thru the seasons we see nancy coming fully into herself by being the person who steps up and faces monsters with a shotgun instead of retreating because it’s easy, y'all know what i’m talking about, i don’t have to explain the nancy wheeler development). but nancy hasn’t had a real female friendship since barb, someone who knows what she’s going through, someone who understands how hard life can be when you’re a woman with an opinion and with the courage to speak up, and then there’s max who has all of this. she’s different, she doesn’t fall into the category of Feminine Standards (her best friends are boys, she skateboards, she dresses differently, she’s rough around the edges, she’s not going to conform to what people expect her to because she’s a girl), and she is So Young and she’s just gone through So Much in such a little amount of time and then suddenly she has these Two older sister figures who know All Of It - the non conforming, the strong opinions, the living with intense trauma, the intelligence (in every sense of the word) - and can relate so strongly to her in a way that she’s never had before. like. they all fall together in this way where they complement each other and they see and understand each other in ways thay other people won’t and can’t. especially for max. like robin speaks to the side of max that is non conforming, that doesn’t care about men’s opinions about her and doesn’t look for them for her self worth, that dresses differently, that is lighthearted and funny and likes to joke around, and nancy speaks to the side of max that still longs and connects to feminity, to inner strength, to the brawn AND the brain of survival while maintaining that softness about her that only really a woman can, like nancy and robin, together, represent to max what she loves and strives to be, and i think that this trio is SO fucking compelling because of that I could genuinely talk about it all day idk.
